In an effort to sensitize college students of Spanish for the professions to the values and social reality of the Hispanic world, one teacher used a combination of demographic information and Hispanic American literature. Information on the geographic distribution and characteristics of Hispanic groups in the United States was provided as a context for understanding the Hispanic experience, and writings by Hispanics who had seen a renaissance since the 1960s' civil rights struggle in the United States were used to supplement the demographic data. The literature contains the experiences, aspirations, and perspectives of immigrants and exiles to the United States, and poetry in particular was found to be a powerful sensitizing tool. Themes of the works include the migrant workers' experience, hopes placed in education for the children, the community, Hispanic heroes, social injustice, and the reasons for leaving the native countries. The emotional response and empathy of the students is seen as the most important tool for working effectively with Hispanic clients and patients. (MSE)